IOM's bi-yearly governorate profiles provide an in-depth analysis of the latest displacement situation and trends in each of Iraq's 18 governorates.
According to the report, the plight of the 2.8 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), including 1.6 million persons who were displaced following the bombing of the Samarra Mosque in February 2006, requires sustained attention from the international community, even if some limited improvements have been recorded in a number of governorates.
In Anbar, Baghdad, and Diyala, which host the highest percentage of post-2006 IDPs, improved security has led to small numbers of displaced returning to their areas of origin. This is especially the case in the governorate of Baghdad, which has received the vast majority of the small number of returnees.
Seventy one percent of those displaced from Baghdad reported that their property was occupied, controlled or claimed by private citizens, a fact that highlights the need for the Government of Iraq to consider this issue as more and more IDPs consider returning.
The report notes that as with displaced women and children throughout the country, those in Anbar, Baghdad and Diyala remain particularly vulnerable to the harsh living conditions of squatter settlements, which offer no or little access to medical care, education, drinking water and other basic facilities.
In Anbar Al-Ka'im district, IOM monitors reported that many children were forced into begging and their mothers into collecting garbage for resale in order to survive.
In comparison, living conditions for IDPs in the three southern governorates of Basra, Muthanna and Thi-Qar are marginally better that in the rest of Iraq, with 95% of the displaced in Basra having regular access to water and 49% receiving food assistance besides the Government Public Distribution System (PDS).
According to the report, 84% of the displaced in the three northern governorates of Erbil, Salaymaniyeh and Dahuk have to pay high rents for insalubrious shelter, 65% say they cannot access or afford fuel and 76% say they do not have access to government food aid with less than 3% receiving food assistance from other sources.
In the volatile governorates of Kirkuk, Ninewa and Salah al-Din, many IDPs continue to live in tents or in former military camps where evictions are common. Seventy two percent said they had no access to health care services and 90% of the displaced in Kirkuk were not involved in vaccination campaigns.
In Kirkuk, monitors observed particularly harsh conditions among IDP women and children, with children often out of school, malnourished, and barefoot with neglected personal hygiene.
Twenty one percent of the displaced in the governorates of Kerbala, Najaf and Babylon face an unpredictable shelter situation because they live in collective settlements, public buildings or on public land and live with the constant threat of eviction. Most IDPs however say they have access to health care, potable water and food assistance, even if access to school for children remains low.
The Governorate Profile reports are available online at www.iom-iraq.net/library.html#IDP
For further information, please contact Dana Graber Ladek, IOM Iraq, Tel: +962 79 611 1759. Email: dgraber@iom-iraq.net